Loading-hopper.



L.- CLAPPER. LOADING HOPPER. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 25, 1916- Patented Apr. 17, 191?.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l L. CLAPPER.

LOADING HOPPER.

APPLICATION HLED.SEPT.-25. 19l6.

' gg Patented Apr. 17, 1917.

f 6 v 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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LYLE oLArrnn, or TWO seasons, mmmso'ra.

LOADING-HOPPER.

Be it known that I, LYLE CLarrnn, a; citizen of the United States, and resident of Two Harbors, inthe county of Lake and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Loading-Hoppers, of which the following is a specification.

My'invention relates to hoppers, and particularly to the mechanism for controlling the doors thereof.

It is frequently undesirable or impractical to build loading hoppers ,in such man'- ner as to provide suflicient head room therebeneath in order to permit of the door orclosure being hinged in the usual manner. If the door is hinged in such manner it is likely to interfere with the wagon or other receptacle intended to receive the material devices; 2'. 0., the greater the load imposed discharged from the hopper.

An object of my invention is to provide a hopper door controlling mechanism wherein one edge of the door is dropped a short distance to free the load, whereupon the door is moved bodily sidewise and vertically, its final position being entirely clear "of the opening. This permits a full load to be received out of the hopper, the material being heaped to practically the level of the'bottom edge of the hopper. This is something which could not be done if the door were permitted to swing in the usual manner.

Furthermore, an object IS to provide a door-supporting mechanism, which, when in closed position, shall tend to retain thedoor in such position without further fastening on the door, the greater the tendency for the door to be maintained in closed position.

The desired objects are attained by supporting the door upon two pairs of links,

one link in each pair being articulated, together with means adapted to act first to break the toggle in the articulated link, whereby one edge of the door is permitted to drop, then bodily moving the door transversely of the opening by engaging the other or rigid link.

. The invention will be more readily understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure'l is a sideelevation of an adaptation of my invention to a small loading hop- Fig. 2 is an end view thereof; Fig. 3; is a View similar ,to Fig. 1 showing the firststep in the door-opening action;

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 1%, 191W.

Application filed September 25, 1916. Serial No. 122,078.

Fig. 4 is a similar view showing the next step, and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the form of connection between the operating bell crank and the shaft.

The hopper, which I have designated 10, may be of any approved form. It may be connected to a railway car, a side wall of which I have indicated at 11, by means of the book 13, which engages over the top of the car and the brace 14 which engages the side of the car.

The hopper is provided with a bottom opening which is closed by a door 15. This door is supported by two pairs of links, one pair on each side of the hopper. One link of each pair is articulated and one link of each pair is rigid. The rigid link is lettered 16 and is pivoted at its upper end on the transverse."shaft 17. The door is l'iinged at 18 to the lower end of the link. For. the purpose of description, let it be assumed that the center-line 19 represents the articulated link, this line extending through the center of the shaft 17 and the pivot point 20 at the connection to the door 15. It will be seen, therefore, by reference to the centerlines 19 and 21, that the door is supported by what might be termed an A-fralne at each side of the hopper.

However, the articulated link isof peculiar construction and comprises the complemen tary short links 22, 23, 24-, all of which are bent to an obtuse angle and are joined end to end. The lower end of link 22 is hinged to the door at the point 20, whereas the upper end of the link 24 is pivoted to the bell crank 25, the center of rotation of which is theshaft 17. The other arm of this bell crank is in the form of an operating lever 26.; A key 27, shown in dottedlines in Fig. 1 and in full lines in Fig. 5, serves to connect the bell crank rigidly to the shaftl'T. The key 27 also connects the link 16 tothe shaft, with capacity for considerable lost motion by reason of the slot 28, best shown in Fig. 5, located in the hub of the link 16.

Not only are the links 22, 23, joined end to end, but the link 23 is hinged at an intermediate point to the end of a bracket 29, which is fixed to the link 16. The point of connection of the link 23 to the bracket 29 is prcferably on the line 19that is a neutral point with relation to the maintenance of the toggle joint. However, it will be 30, which passes through the point of con ncction between the link to the door and to the link i, falls outside of the line 19; and 'l urthermorc that a line such as We have lettered 31, extending through the points of connection oi lhc link 2% (ll its two ends, also falls nuiside of the linclil. 'lhercforc, when the parts are in llie position of Fig, l, the 'tcnilcnev is for the parts to remain in such position. in order to break the toggle, ii is iu cessary to actuate the lcvcr '26. R0 lation of the bell crank will tend to bring the line 30 into parallelism with the line 19, and as soon as out of i-arallrlism on the opposite side to that shown in Fig. l, the door will drop to lllt' position of Fig. 3, bringing the lever it? lo a 'rci'tical xvosi'tion. A1 that point lhc key 37 has moved to the extremity of thc slot as and engages the link ll). l urthcr angular movement of the lever 26 causcs a similar movement of the link In, and the bodily hiring of the door to lho position shown in Fig. To accomplish this rcsnllz, the door has swung downward only to the extent shown in Fig. 3. it will be seen, therefore, lhat a container located beneath the hopper may be filled to a level even with the bottom of the hopper, all without interference .ivilh the door.

l pon lhc release oi the operating lever 26, lhc door will return to substantially the position of Fig. by gravity; then by restoring the lover to the position of Fig. 1 the parts are replaced as shown in that, figure.

I claim:

1. in aloading device, the ccmbinat-ionof a hopper, a closure for the bottom opening therein, a pail of links for supporting said closure, one of said links being articulated and a lever for irst breaking said articulated link and then acting to bodily move said closure transversely of the opening,'

substantially as described.

2. In a device oi. the class described, the combination of a container having a bOlitom opening, a closure for said opening, a pair of links for supportirg said closure, one oi": said links being articulated and the other link being rip-id, and means constructed to first engage said articulated link and break the same, then to engage said rigid link and to move said closure bodily transversely of fihc opening, substantially as described.

3. In a device of the class described, the

combination of a container having a bottom opening, a closure for said opening, a pair of links it r supporting said closure, one of said links being composed of a plurality of parts which are hinged together, a bracket fixed to one of. said links and providing a fulcrum for one of the parts of the divided link, and means for first acting upon said divided link to permit of the dropping of one edge of the door or closure, then acting upon the other link to cause the bodily movement or" the door, substantially as described.

45:. In a device of the class described, the combination of a hopper having a bottom opening, a horizontal door for said opening, a pair of links at each side of said hopper, each pair of links having a common pivotal point near the up )er portion of the hopper, one of: each of sai pairs of links being articulated and the other ofcach of said pairs of links being solid, and a lover acting to break both of said articulated links, then. to engage said solid link and bodily move the door away from the opening, substantially as described.

5. In a loading device, the combination of a hopper, a door for the bottom opening therein, a rigid link for supporting one side of said door, a compound link for supporting the other side of the door, said compound link being composed of at least three supplementary links, and a bracket carried by said rigid link and providing a fulcrum for one of said supplementary links, substa ntially as described.

6. In a loading device, the combination of a hopper, a door for the bottom opening therein, a rigid link for supporting one side of said door, a compound link for support ing' the other side of the door, said compound link being composed .of at least, three supplementary links, a bracket carried by said rigid link and providing a. fulcrum for one of said supplementary links and a manually-operable bell crank mounted to first act upon said compound'linka nd then upon said rigid link, substantially as described.

Si ned at Two Harbors, Minn, this 18 day of September, 1.916. I LYLE CLAPPER.

Witnesses:

JAs. D. MoGHIE, J12, .HARRY H. SEITZ. 

